Viscerally satisfying moments in shmups

[Squire Grooktook]

Combine that with the visuals going crazy & boss attacks synced with music.

Been touched upon briefly I think, but I'd bet music syncing in general adds a lot to moments like this. Music sync = instant epic/visceral?

[BIL]

Most definitely. Darius Gaiden's a good example - as superb as its OST is, the part I remember most is the dead silence of Zone M's opening skirmish, and the perfectly calibrated audiovisual plunge into mortal threat. The boss warning... uneasy solitude... and BOOM! Titanic Lance's startling multi-screen entrance, impeccably synced to the stark opening note of "Touei," screen after screen of impossibly overpowering artillery rushing past in the icy sustain. One of the great David v Goliath boss encounters, BGM indispensible.

Samidare's "Acid Rain ~ Rebirth" hitting as the st3 boss enters its second form:



every god damn time.

LH already mentioned Recca's 1.1-1.2 transition, just seconding... after the frenzy of 1.1, mowing down several lesser shooters' worth of zako and dispatching Spider in a supercharged seizuresplosion, "M.O.M." and its eerie EEG-esque background comes down like a shroud. I always have max L+S at that point - obliterating endless zako lines feels a lot more "automated" and machinelike after 1.1's scramble, something the mechanistically chomping backbeat complements perfectly.

[LordHypnos]

Samidare's "Acid Rain ~ Rebirth" hitting as the st3 boss enters its second form:

oh hell yeah! That transition is the shit. This is probably not the best example (I've had it transition at better points in the previous BGM), but still gives the general idea.